The Church Calendar and Yearly Cycle in the Life of Medieval Reval
Tiina Ka/a
The following contribution is not meant to give a systematic picture of the mental st ctures, deriving from the organisation oflife in medieval town, but rather to present some problematic points using the example of medieval Reval that could make a connection with di erent elds ofthe history ofthe mentalities ofmedieval society.
In the case of a medieval merchant town it can be discussed whether the principal organising power was religion or econorny. lf one presumes that the main characteristics of an average edieval city’s life [the observing of religious habits and the clerical time schedule, public assistance, connected with religious structures and their activities, the uniting structures of citizens (corporations) and the observation of religious habits) were mainly under the control ofthe clergy, one can na e religion as the main organising power. but without denying the organisational power of the clergy, one cannot identi the clergy and the church with religion. In addition the relations between trade and religion and their interdependente must be specially considered.
One starting point for describing the life of a pre-Reformation citizen of Reval could be the time schedule, the habits arising from that time schcdule, the in uence of the time-schedule on the organisation of life and vice versa.
Until now the number of modern research contributions to the history of the medieval mentality of Livonia has been rather small. The Iti erature conce ing medieval culture in Old Livonia dates mostly back to the second halfofthe nineteenth century and the beginning ofthe twentieth.1 Due to the great self-interest characteristic to the works of the Baltic German historians, comparisons, even with Germany, leave alone other European countries, are rare.
1 Fr.Amelung, •lusche Culturstud�en aus den v1er Jnhrh;mderlen der Ordenszell (1/8�-156 ). Dorpat. 188�; L . A r b u s o w , D i e E i n f it h r u n g d e r R e f o r m a t i o n i n L i v – . E s t – u n d K u r l a n d L e 1 p t 1 g . 1 9 2 1 ; G . v . H a n s e n . D � e K � r c h e und ehemaligen A:Joster Reva/s. Reval. 1885; M.Lipp, hOdumaa kmku JO haruluse lugu [The Historv of Estonian Church and Education]. Jul)ev, 1895: O.Pohn. Zur FronumgkeusgeschlChte Livlands. Sonderabdruck v. Abhandlungen des Herder-Instituts zu Riga I. 4. Riga, 1 9 2 5 ; O.Sild. Kinkuvis1tntsioomd eestlaste maal vanemast njast kum olel’ikuni [Church Visitations in the Land of Estonians From Earliest Tirnes to the Present Day) Tanu. 1937: O.Sild. Eesll kmkulugu vanimnst ajast olewkum [History of the Estonian Church From Earllest Times 10 the Present Da) ) Tanu. 1938.
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Among the rst Baltic German authors to deal with cultural topics ofOid Livonia were
Fr. Amelung and L. Arbusow sen., the latter being one ofthe key gures among his generation ofBaltic historians Fr. Amelung was not a professional historian, and many ofhis works su er from exaggerated Kulrurlrdger-ideas. The works by E. v. Nottbeck and W. Neumann, Ed. Pabst and Fr. Koehler2 are usually devoted to speci c matters. The following rst period of Estonian independence ( 1 920-1940) remained too short to ll this gap.
A er the Second World War the emphasis has mostly been on economic and art history with quite a narrow interpretation of sources, although during recent years some new trends can be observed in the diploma-theses ofthe graduates ofTartu University.
The possibilities for approaching the everyday religiousness through everyday sources are quite wide and the range of the sources in case of medieval Reval – as compared to the Iiterature – is relatively wide.
There is no doubt that the church was the most in uential organiser of an o cial time schedule for the medieval citizen. Nevertheless, it is di cult to say, whether this schedule should oe quali ed as religious or not – the solution could lie in the attitude, according to which there was no strict line between the religious and the secular from the mode point of view. The different approach to time-schedule according to the time of the year and to economic activities fo a special eld for research.
There are many problems in representing a pre-Refo ational calendar ofa Revalian as no written precise calendars have been lly preserved (like in Riga\ therefore one can make only presumptions, especially conceming the gradation ofthe feasts according to the system of the church. The religious texts preserved were originally written down mostly in France or Ge any and give no evidence as to the local peculiarities.
One way to present a medieval time schedule without using any o cial calendar is to ooserve the dating system, consisting of the feast days of saints and other church-feasts in the sources where records have been made during a Ionger period – di erent town magistrate register-books etc. In the case ofReval these sources are quite revealing. Every single source ofthis kind enables us to fo a separate calendar which need not be the same as that one of some other source. The Iist of the feasts named and their occurrence could be di erent but there are certain tauehing points. Nevertheless, some very important feasts could be le out, so one cannot fully rely on this kind of calendar.
In the sources covering a Ionger period the amount of entries di er from month to month and from year to year In the book ofburghers (1426-1525)4 the calculated mean value of entries per month would be 35-45. Summing up the number of entries in a particular month during this period. there are 71 inscriptions in March compared to 41 in February, 44 in April, 25 in June, 43 in May, July and September, 42 in August, 67 in October, 57 in November, 51 in December and again only 3 5 in January.
2 Ex.Nott k. W.Ncumann. Geschichte und Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Reva/. Re\·al. 1899. Fr.K hler. Ehstltmdtsche Klosterlekt re. Rcval. 1892, Ed. bst. DerAlmgrafundseine Feste. Reval. 1864.
3 Hx.Bruiningk. Messe und kanonisches Stunden ehet nach dem Brauche der Rigaschen Kirche im späteren /wela/ter. ga. 1904.
4 Das Revaler Bürgerbuch 1409-1614. H g. v. O.Grei nhagen. Tallinna Linnaarhiivi v ljaandcd nr. 6. Tallinn. 1932.
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In the book of burghers Easter is never used in dating, although in the other sources it is (!Uite usual. There are no entries om the weeks before and a er Easter (again the other scurces do not show cessation of activities during that period).
The largest number of entries in the account-books ofthe town magistrate om 1432- 15075 one can find in August and October (the sum ofentries for each month is 286). The decrease in September (248) cannot be lly explained. The least active time of the year (122
entries) i s February .
In the inheritance-books om 1312-14586 the largest number of entries have been ma e in March (21 I). during mirlsummer and at the tu ofthe year considerably less (IOS in Ju!y, 108 in August, I 09 in December, 1 1 5 in January) For the parchment rent-roll om 1382-
1518 the most active month was April (229 entries). the least active one was January (60 entries).
Thus, according to the sources observed, the least active time of the year is approximately from December to January, the most active from March to April. Whether there is any reason to connect these gures with the rise and fall ofreligious tension or whether they should be analysed only as an expression of the intensity of economic activities, can be le a matter of dispute, although according to V. Turner the first point of view should be seriously considered, as the rise of economic tension in society has always been connected with the rise ofreligious tension. staning from mystical cults in agrarian societies 7
The charactcristics of feasts and feasting periods appear di erent in di erent sources.
Some sources have „concentrated“ on some kind of feast, like the account-book of the
magistrate on Christmas, Shrove Tuesday, Pentecost and All Souls‘ Day. These trends are mostly connected to the significance of one or another feast to the group of people whose activities this source represents. If the roJe of this group of people and its connections with clerical and secular institutions could be estimated, one could also comprehend the imponance ofthe feast.
Religiously active periods were also the time for the ful lling of many economic ob!igations (paying taxes, rents etc.). In all the sources taken into consideration one can find a great number of records near Palm Sunday throughout the founeenth and fi eenth centuries. This is presumably the result of the role of Easter which was one of the most popular dates for fulfil!ing obligations If a time was set, it was usually Easter, if two or more, Easter o en was one of them. The obligations that had to be ful lled twice a year were usually l lled by Easter and Michaelmas, which corresponds to similar data conceming Western Europe.
er Easter the tension fell for a shon time only to rise again during Pe:11ecost but it remained lower than during Easter period. er Pentecost there was a decrease again, although smaller than the previous one, because the tension remained high throughout the summer to become still higher and almost reach its peak at Michaelmas – the main time for
5 Ktlmmereihuch der Stadt Re.,al. Quellen und Darstellungen zur hansischen Geschichte, b. v.
R.Vogelsang. Bd. 22/1 u 22/2. Köln Wien 1976. Bd. 27/1. u. 27/2. Köln Wien 1983.
6 L.Arbusow, Das /teste f uschopbuch der Stadt Rel’ai ‚/J/2-13601. Revaler Stadtbacher /. Archiv r die
Geschidne Liv-. Est- und Curlands. 111. Folge, I. Bd. Rcval. 1 888. E. .Non k . Da drtualteste Erbebuch der Stadt Revnl f/3X3- / J�J Acluv ir die Geschichte Liv-. Est- und Curlands. lll. Folge. 111. Bd. Rcval, 18 .
7 V Tu er. Smrl’ol r rttua/ Moscow. 1983.
lOS
ful lling obligations in autumn. The number of inscriptions show the lessening of tension during December. although the Christmas cycle should have made this period active.
Moving from the generat time-schedule itselfto the habits of the institutions regulating the calendar, several illuminating details can be added conce ng single feasts and week days. ln St. Brigit’s monastery near Reval each year before All Saints‘ Day the needs of the monaste were calculated and the remaining goods were given to the needy 8 In the wills of the fi eenth century it was quite usual to leave some money (usually I farthing) to every poor man or woman in every church and churchyard in Reval seven successive Saturdays in the memory ofthe seven sorrows ofVirgin Mary.
These actions were closely connected with the commemoration of the dead, which was o en o cially organised. The decree of the town magistrate f om January 1425 erdered the remembrance of the deceased twice a year in the parish church of the deceased person.9 In practice this regulation would have le the other churches without the possible income om those proceedings.
The commemoration of the dead formed usually a pa of some bigger feast period, contributing in some way to the tension of the general atmosphere. On the fourteenth of June 1457, the priest ofthe Holy Ghost church in Reval, Ludeke Karwel, gave the rent of200 Riga marks for several religious purposes, for example for holding a mass for the sake of the souls of the sisters and brothers of the Great Guild on Easter, Pentecost and Christmas10 By comparison, it can be pointed out that the statutes (schrag) of the Tafelgilde in Riga prescribed the commemoration of the deceased brothers and sisters and the supporters of the
guild with vigils and masses on a Monday once a year 1 1 .
The statutes of Virgin. Ma ’s guild12 in Reval om the end of the fteenth century erdered the reading of thirty Pater Nosters and thirty Ave Marias in the memory of every deceased sister or brother. The same guild also took responsibility for holding a mass three times a week in the Cathedral Church of Reval and paid on assumptio Marie for each priest six Riga marks a year At the nerals the members of the guild had to carry the catafalque covered with a canopy that was believed to have been belonged to Virgin Mary (b ecke t vnßer leuen vrouwen to horel) . At the end ofthe eenth century the guild possessed quite an expensive Virgin Mary’s canopy which could also be hired for the nerals of those who were not members ofthe guild.
8 G.\ .Hansen. Die Ktrche undehemaligen Kl ster Revals, p. 172.
9 LEC . Bd. VII., Nr. 237.
10 LECUB. Bd. XI.. Nr. 524. The brother of Ludcke Karwel was probably the abbot of the Dominican monastery in Re,·al. their father could have ssibly en a tailor from Reval Claus Carwelcn. and grandrather
Hinko Karwelcyne from the ,·iJiage Karla near Reval ( . P.Johansen, „Eestikeels märkm kahes dominiiklaste kloostri raamatus Tallinnas“ [Estonian Notcs in Two Books of the Dominicans in Reval]. In: Ee.<tt 1 ee/ !929 Nr. 5-6. lk. 95-96).
11 H.v.Bruiningk, Messe undkanomsches Stundengebet, p. 335.
12 e Virgin. Ma ’s guild was initially founded as a purely rcligious inslitution in the ginning of the fiftccnth century b) thc canons Diderick Todwin and Diderick Toyß. In the middle of the fifteenth ccntury the acti\“ities of thc guild probably dicd out and it must have bcen re-established in 1496. when mentioned as f ternitas sancte .\lar�e virigims, que noviter in summo Reva ensi auetoritote apostoltca m.<tttua et fundata est (LECUB. Zwenc Abt.. Bd. I.. Nr. 335). er the Reformation the guild came an Organisation of thc cra smen ofthe Dome hill and its subu s.
106
The major festival in the guild was assumptio (in the Statutes „vnßer Ieuen ouwen dage Kruthewmge“), which was celebrated with a procession where the sisters carried an icon w::h a depiction of Virgin Mary, and the brothers followed them with candles. Such processions were also organised in the guild on Co oris Christi and on the Friday before St.
John’s D a y Before assumptio an obligato drinking feast nmke) followed by a yearly obligatory session ofthe guild on the next day. 13
w a s held which was
The Statutes of the blacksmith joumeymen from the first half of the eenth centu prescribed the commemoration of the dead with vigils on the Tuesday a er Pentecost and Christmas. The participation of all the brothers and sisters was obligato , those who were absent were fined I pound ofwax. 1 4
The Great Guild ordered three masses for every dcceased member at the Blasius‘ and Christophorus‘ altar in St. Nicholas‘ Church. 1 5
The Blackheads (the fraternity of young unmarried merchants) who patronised St.
Ca:herine’s Church of the Dominican monastery paid for one silent mass a day in St. Catherine’s Church. The bigger festivities of the corporation ended with an obligatory high mass (the absentees were fined). The participation in the mass was obligatory also during Christmas and Easter. assumptio and St. Catherine’s Day.
For the daily silent mass the Blackheads usually gave the Dominicans a tun of meat, a tun of cod and a tun of peas by Advent. er the reform of the Dominican order which was carried through in Reval during 1475-1476 by Nicolaus Lundensis, and later by Albertus Petri, the friars were prohibited to eat meat, and got instead ofmeat more sh (two tuns of cod) and money instead of food for Trinity Day_ 16
The Christmas drinking-feast in the corporation ofthe Blackheads began on the Friday before St Lucia’s Day (the thirteenth of December) and ended on the tenth of January with an obligatory session. 17 The chronicler Balthasar Russow describes with great disgust the revelry that took place on Shrove Tuesday and during the fast, as weil as the drinking during Christmas and Shrove Tuesday when people used to dance and enjoy themselves araund a r tree set up in the market-place.18 To a !arge extent his disgust must have been the e ect of Lutheran strictness, because the people of those times necd not have considered such kind of activities irreligious at all (comp. risuspaschali.l‘ or the bu ing ofa doll – a sy bol offasting in the Netherlands).
As it was usual for a guild or corporation to take care ofthe altar oftheir own patron saint in some church and to celebrate the saint’s day, the feast calendar could di er in details in different corporations. The St. Antonius corporation had to give two arks a year for bread
13 Fr.Stillmark. „Der alteste Schragen der Dom- oder Manengilde zu Rc,·al •· ln· Bellrage zur Kunde 1/ands,
Bd. XVIII. He 1-5, Reval. 1932-3�. pp 25–16.
14 „Alter Schragen der B derschaft der Schmiedegesellen zu Re,·al “ ln: B�llrtlg� zur Kunde Ehst-. Liv- und .’urlnnd,_ Bd I Reval. 1868-72. p 390.
15 L.A usO\•. Dtc Em h rung der Reformation, p. 109.
16 Fr. Amelung. Geschichle von Revaler hwar enhtiupter von threm Ursprung bts aufdte Gegenwart_ Reval,
1 885. P- 35-39.
17 lbid.. p. 21.
18 Balthasar Russo“’s Chronica der Prouint Ly landl. RC\·al. 1857. p. �6.
107
and wine to St. Antonius‘ altar in St. Nicholas‘ Church, 19 the stone-masons who regarded St. Reynold as their patron saint gave one mark every year to celebrate St. Reynold’s Day in the same church. The shoemakers Iook care ofthe Crispini and Crispiniani altar in St. Nicholas‘ Church. St. Victor’s corporation ofthe town servants celebrated St. Victor’s Day on the tenth of October.
The obligatory drinking-feasts took usually place twice a year mostly at Christmas and on Shrove Tuesday or at Christmas and at Easter.
Although the data concerning religious donations should express the degree of religiousness of the generat atmosphere, it is di cult to estimate it in reality. There are several cit: ens during the second half of the fi eenth century (Heise Patiner, Hans Lippe, Hans Potgeter, Ludeke Karwel, Reynold Ko er) whose names appear very o en among the religious donors, but as they belonged to the wealthy upper dass of the city or were clergymen, one can not really judge their devoutness as religious donations were obligatory to keep a high reputation 20
The religious habits of the citizens had naturally a direct impact on the economic we!fare of the clergy. For example according to the records of the parchment rent-roll ( 1382- 1 5 18) the priest in The Holy Ghost Church could have the donations affered before the mass. The donations a ered a er the mass (during o ertorium) were meant to support the Holy
Ghost workhouse 21
The misunderstandings between the mendicants and the town clergy were generally similar to the circumstances of wesle Europe: p ple preferred the masses and sermons of the Dominicans to the masses in their parish churches and accordingly brought their donations to the monastery 22
ln the supplementary part of the resolutions of the provincial church council of Riga ( 1 428) by Henning Scharpenberg, the archbishop of Riga23 from the year 1 43724 the Dominicans and other mendicants were ordered to start the singing oftheir canonical hours on the sixth hour to finish the proceedings before the beginning of the high mass in parish
19 TLA (Tallinn City Archives). f31. n I, s 216 echnungsbuch der St.-Nikolaus Kirchenvormünder 1465- 1535),fol. 13a.
20 As an example of a genuinely rcligious person one can name the widow of the a ve mentioned Hans Potgeter. After thc death of her husband. Catharina Potgetcr donated 150 marks for mass to held in St.
Barbara·s chapcl on Mondays for the sake of thc soul of her late busband (LECUB. Z eite Abt.. Bd. lll.
Nr. 302). Later. during thc stormy events of the iconoclasm and the Reformation at the end of the year 1524 and thc bcginning of I525. shc took some of the books from the dtssolved Dommican monastery to kcep them in her ccllar. although it \\35 forbidden b� the reformation3 regulations ofthe town magtstratc (TI A. f 230, n
.
23 Hcnning Schar nberg ( 1424-IHS). before coming an archbishop. was the provost of Rlga. a rclati e of thc bishop of Osci-Wick Christian Kubandi. who. in turn. had bcen the father nfessor of �1a in V (Eesti n;alugu II [Histol)· ofEstoma]. toim. H. Kruus. Ta u, 1937. lk. 176-177).
24 LECUB. Bd. IX. Nr. 131.
I. s Bk 3).
21 L.Arbusow.Das lte te WittschopbuchderStadtReval (1312-1360). p. 73. 22 A. f230. n 1-1. p. 577.
108
churches (this was not obligatory on the feast-day ofthe patrons ofthe order – the fourth of February – according to the additions to the martyrologium of 1509) 25
As an exarnple of a regulation setting the terms for fulfilling religious obligations one can refer to one ofthe indulgence letters, given by twelve cardinals ofRome on the sixth of September 136326, according to which the religious activities fro the visitors of St. John’s leprosarium were requested on the following days·
Natahs Domuu, Circumcisio, Dies Cmerum, in jesto Rames Palmarum, Parasceves. Pasche, Ascensioms, Pell/ecostes, Trmitatis, Chorpans Christi, lnvenuoms et Exaltationis sancte Cmcis, Nativitatis et Deco ationis beati Johanms Baptiste, heatorum Pem et Pau aposto/omm et omnium apostolorum et evan e starum, injesto ommum sanetarum et in commemoratione mortuorum ac in dtcti hospitalis dedicatioue et per octavas omnium jestivitatum predictarum octa1•as hahemium sancrommque Stephani. Laurentii. Vincentii. Blasii, Martini, Nicolai, Autotm, Georgii, Clementis, Cr goni. Ambrosti, Augustim, /eronimi, sanctorumque Marie 1agdalene, Marthe. Margarethe, Amu!, Agneus. Agathe, Katherme. Cecllte, Lucie et Bn ide. smgulisque diebus Dannniets et sabbatis.
All these days usually occur in secular sources also Although Virgin Mary’s days are not mentioned here, they are added (in omnibusjesltvllattbus beatissime virgmis Mane) Iogether with the days of Barbara and Dorothea in the indulgence Ietter given to St. John’s leprosarium by bishop Heinrich of Reval from the seventeenth of August of 144927 which repeats almost word for word the one frorn 1363. As one can see. hcre hardly any local peculiarities which deviate from western catholic tradition can be observed.
If one Iooks at some other sources, there is one particularity that concems All Souls‘ Day. This day is usually not very prominent in o cial church calendars and is of little use in dating Nevenheless, one can find it on the Ionger lists of the indulgence letters in German cultural traditions the habits of All Souls‘ Day are similar to the habits of All Saints‘ Day 28 The ing of the date on the second of November comes of course from the Catholic tradition but the habits of the day itself are largely of local pre-Christian origin This can be also the reason for the consequent use of the Estonian name of the day (Hmkepeve, Henkepeve) in Middle Low German texts, produced in Reval. For example, in the account-books from the years
1432-1 507, this day is never used in dating. Nevertheless, the text itself o en shows, how much was spent by the town magistrate to celebrate this day (usually three-four pounds of candle wax and about thirty geese) According to Gem1an popular customs, the geese were eaten during Michaelmas and St Martin’s Day. the same custo is not known in connection with All Souls‘ Day
Besides Christmas, Shrove Tuesday, Easter and St Martin’s Day. the All Souls‘ Day is the onlv one which was mentioned in the account-books in connection with the celebrations organised by the town magistrate.
2 5 A . f B O . n I . l n c 2 1 . fo l . 1 2 .
26 LECUB. Bd. II . Nr. 997
27 LECL . Bd. X. Nr. 649.
28 1/nndwörterbuch der Sn�e. Hrsg. v. Peuckc . W.-E. . I. Göttingen. 1962. p. 354.
109
As for the local peculiarities in the habits of the Church itself in Reval. there are ve
few sources which enable us to identi them. The only possibility for compiling a Iist of the
church festivities of the highest rank owm Duplex) is in the handmade inscriptions in the above-mentioned Mar rologium of Belinus de Padua (printed in Venice in 1 509). These inscriptions have a ce ain Dominican and Scandinavian influence According to them one can speak of55 days of Tohml Duplex in the beginning ofthe sixteenth century in Reval·
Circumcisio (Jan. I). Epyphanie (Jan. 6), Anthonii (Jan. 17), Vincelllii (Jan. 22), Translatio Thome de Aquino (Jan. 29), Hypopanti domini (Feb. 2), Dorothee (Feb. 6), Mathie ap. (Feb. 24), 111ome de Aquino (March 7), Anmmciatio dominica (March 25), Depositio Ambrosii (Apr. 4), Marci ev. (Apr. 25), Petri de ordine predicatorum (Apr. 29), Philipp1 et Jacobi (May 1 ), Joannis ante portam latinam (May 6), Translatio Pem (May 7), Apparatio Michaelis archangeli (May 8), Translatio Dominici (May 24). Ba abe ap. (June I I ), Decemmilium milium (June 22), Joannis baptiste (June 24), Petri et Pauli (June 29), Commemoratio Pauli (June 30), Visitatio Marie ad Eli beth (July 2), Divisio apostolorum (July I 5), Marie Magda/ene (July 22), Jacohi ap. (July 25), Anne (July 26), Dominici (Aug 5), Transfiguratio domim nostri (Aug. 6), Assumptio Marie (Aug. 1 5), Bartholomei ap. (Aug. 24), Augustini (Aug. 28), Nativitas Marie (Sept. 8), Michaelis (Sept. 29), Depositio Hieronymi (Sept. 30), Dionysii (Oct. 9), Luce ev. (Oct. 1 8), Undecim milium virginum (Oct. 2 1 ), Simonis et Thadei (Oct. 28), Omniumsanctorum(Nov.I),Martini(Nov.II), Ehsabeth(Nov. 19),Presentatio Marie in templo (Oct. 2 1 ), Catherme (Nov. 25), Andree (Nov. 30), Barbare (Dec. 4). C’onceptm Marie (Dec. 8), 1 ome (Dec. 2 1 ) , Nat1vttas Chnsll (Dec. 25), Stephani (Dec. 26). Joannis ap. (Dec 27).
In comparison to the other Dominican calendars and those of the other religious orders,29 it is a relatively big number. Thus, adding to the movable feasts and Sundays, the calendar of the medieval citizen of Reval appears to have been quite elaborate in spite of the late christianisation ofthe territory.
The expression of religiousness, which can be observed in this connection, faded away gradually during Lutheran times. In the case of Old Livonia the shi towards early mode mentalities starts to be formed by Lutheran ideology, which introduced a whole complex of new economical, politic and cultural structures.
29 H.G tefcnd. Ze rechnung des deulschen llelalrers und der Neuze11. Zweiten B Cite Ab eil . Hanno\·er und ipzig. 1898.
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QUOTIDIANUM ESTONICUM
MEDIUM AEVUM QUOTIDIANUM
HERAUSGEGEBEN VON GERHARD JARITZ
SONDE AND V
QUOTIDIANUM ESTONICUM
ASPECTS OF DAILY LIFE IN MEDIEVAL ESTONIA
EDITEDBY
JÜRIKIVIMÄE
A
JUHANKREEM
KREMS 1996
GEDRUCKT MIT UNTERSTÜTZUNG DER KULTURABTEILUNG DES AMTES
DER NIEDERÖSTERREICHISCHEN LANDESREGIERUNG
Coverlllustralion:Compilationfromsketch inthemarginsofaccoum k s of the Town Magistrate of Rcval (TLA. Ad. 26 and 32)
– ISBN3901094083
© 1996 by Medium Ae\1Jm Quotidianum. Gesellschaft zur Erforschung der materiellen Kuhur des Millclallers, Körnennarkt 13, A – 3500 Krems. Austria – Printcd by Kopitu Ges.m.b.H.,
Wiedncr Hauptstraße 8-10. A-1050 Wien
Inhaltsverzeichnis able of Contents/Sommaire
Preface….. …………………………………………………. …………………………………………………….. 7
JüriKivimäe,Medieval Estonia. Introduction. …………………………………………………….. 8
Juhan Kreem, „ultima germonorum & christianomm prouintia“. Outlines ofthe Image ofLivonia onMaps from the Thirteenth to theMiddle of the Sixteenth Century … 14
Marek Tamm, Les miracles en Livonie et en Estonie a l’epoque de Ia christianisation
( n XIIeme- debur Xllleme siecles) …………… ……… . …………………………. 29
Erik Somelar. Van des keisserlichen L bischen Rechtes wegen. Circumstances of Criminality inMedieval Reval…………………………………………………………………….. 79
Tiina Kala, The Church Calendar and Yearly Cycle in the Life ofMedieval Reval. . . . . . . . . . 103 Mihkel Tammet, Some Aspects ofHerbalMedical Treatment on the Example
ofMedieval Reval…. ………………………………………. …………………………………… 111 Inna Pöltsam. Essen und Trinken in den livländischen Städten i m Spätmittelalter . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 KatrioKukke, Les lois somptuaires deReval………………………………………………………… 128
5
Preface
The idea to publish a special Estonian or Baltic issue of Medium Aevum Quotidianum has been discussed already for a couple of years with Gerhard Jaritz and Christian Krötzl. lnitially the idea was based on the first experience of studying medieval everyday life and mentalities in a small seminar-group at Tanu University. This optimistic curiosity of discovering a new history or actually a history forgotten long ago, has been carried on. The research topics of Katrin Kukke, lnna Poltsam and Erik Somelar originate from this seminar. However, all contributions of Quolidianum .womcum were written especially for this issue.
Besides that, this collection of articles needs some comments. First, it must be admitted that the selection of aspects of everyday life published here is casual and represents only marginally the modern Situation of historical research and history-writing in Estonia. The older Baltic German and Estonian national scholarship has occasionally referred to the aspects of everyday life. Yet the ideology of ‚histoire nouvelle‘ has won popularity among the younger generation of Estonian historians only in recent years. These ideas are uniting a srnall informal circle of historians and archivists around Tallinn City Archives, represented not only by the above mentioned authors but also by the contributions of Tiina Kala, Juhan Kreem, Marek Tamm and Mihkel Ta met Secondly, we must confess the disputable aspects of the title Quolldianum Eswmcum Medieval Europe knew Livonia but not Estonia and Latvia which territories it covered over 350 years There may be even reproaches tOwards the actual contents that it is too much centralised on Tallinn/Reval, but it can be explained with the rich late medieval collections available at Tallinn City Archives.
We wish above all to thank Eva Toulouse, Monique von Wistinghauscn, Hugo de Chassiron, Tarmo Kotilaine and Urmas Oolup for the editorial assistance. Our greatest debt of gratitude is to Gerhard Jaritz, without whose encouragement and suppon this issue could not
have been completed.
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Jüri Kivimäe, Juhan Kreem, editors